Hi everyone! I just registered for an account here after quietly reading articles for years.
I'm 38. I was introduced to Wing Commander in 1990 when I was 5 years old by my grandfather. My grandfather worked in satellite communications, and he was fascinated by both computers and flight (he had previously served in the US Air Force). So, growing up in the 90's we constantly upgraded our family PCs, and he bought almost every flight sim out there... Microsoft Flight Simulator, Falcon, Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe, B-17 Flying Fortress, and of course all the Wing Commander (and related) games.
The WC series was always my favorite. I took the manuals to bed each night. The novels were some of my first 'grown up' books I was allowed to read. I drew the various ships in my notebooks in school, etc. We always bought the original floppy releases, and then upgraded to the deluxe CD-ROM editions when they came out. I also love Descent, FreeSpace, and have enjoyed StarLancer and FreeLancer.
Today I have two kids of my own, and I've been working on collecting all of the Wing Commander media I can again to display on a shelf in my home. My son has spent a lot of time watching me play Privateer and Prophecy recently (when I can pull him away from Breath of the Wild). My wife and I both work in education (she in public school, me in higher education). I am currently halfway through my doctoral studies. When the kids are tucked, and the work and schoolwork is finished, I dive right back into the cockpit of whatever ship I am currently flying.
I want to thank BanditLoaf for all of his Twitter posts over the last few years which reignited the flame for me in terms of loving Wing Commander, and which led to me recollecting the series and sharing it with my kids.